I had the most refreshing Sunday service at church today. It honestly felt as though the entire worship and sermon was tailored specifically for me, which I guess is how we know that God is convicting us and growing us.

I have to admit that I haven’t been very consistent with my Bible & prayer times lately. Once school gets out for the summer, it becomes more difficult to stick to routines in all areas of life and it’s shameful how quickly the Bible & prayer portion of my schedule seems to be sacrificed. The fact that I’ve been struggling so much with depressing thoughts and down feelings should have been a big red flag to me from the start that my soul was being deprived of much needed spiritual replenishment. You wouldn’t eat a gigantic meal once a week and expect your body to thrive without food for the next week; that’s essentially what I’d been doing to my soul. When I don’t stay at His feet and don’t keep my eyes fixed on Him, that’s when Satan creeps in and starts whispering lies to me; and that’s when I start believing the lies instead of girding myself with the Truth.

During praise, we sang songs with lyrics like this:

Rejoice, come and lift your hands and 

Raise your voice, He is worthy of our praise

Rejoice, sing of mercies of your King

And with trembling, rejoice

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Hm. Yes, a good dose of peace that surpasses all understanding could probably be good for me right now, you think?

And lastly, the entire message was based on Psalm 34, which was written by David either during or about the time that he was hidden away in a cave, fearing for his life (emphasis my own):

I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, O children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² What man is there who desires life
    and loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    and his ears toward their cry.
¹⁶ The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷ When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
²⁰ He keeps all his bones;
    not one of them is broken.
²¹ Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²² The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.